(Even more here)

May 7, 2018

Brazil

• Roberta Pennafort, “Marielle Foi Morta por Submetralhadora, e Nao Pistola, Mostra Reportagem Da Record” (O Estado de S.Paulo, Estadao (Brazil), May 7, 2018).

O caso é investigado pela Delegacia de Homicídios e existe a suspeita de que o crime foi ordenado por milicianos

Central America Regional

• Alicia A. Caldwell, Laura Meckler, “Stiffened U.S. Approach to Illegal Border Crossings Will Separate Families” (The Wall Street Journal, May 7, 2018).

About 700 children have already been separated from their parents, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. The new policy is expected to result in far more children separated

Colombia

• Jose Miguel Vivanco, “Deben Primero Responder por Sus Crimenes en Colombia” (Human Rights Watch, El Tiempo (Colombia), May 7, 2018).

¿El Gobierno debe extraditar a los comandantes de las Farc que solicite Estados Unidos?

• Lorena Arboleda, “Semana Crucial para los Dialogos Con el Eln” (El Espectador (Colombia), May 7, 2018).

Esta semana se reanudan las conversaciones en La Habana, Cuba, entre las delegaciones de paz del gobierno y de la guerrilla, luego de que Ecuador retirara su condición de garante

• “Casas de Pique: Asi Funciona el Regimen de Terror en Tumaco” (Semana (Colombia), May 7, 2018).

SEMANA conoció parte de la evidencia que encontró la Procuraduría en Tumaco adonde, según la comunidad, existen las denominadas ‘casas de ajusticiamiento’ y de vejámenes sexuales contra menores de edad

Guatemala

• Elisabeth Malkin, “Guatemala Corruption Panel Has New Foe: U.S. Senator Marco Rubio” (The New York Times, May 7, 2018).

Mr. Rubio’s action was prompted by the case of a Russian family convicted in January of buying false passports in Guatemala and sentenced to long prison terms

• , Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), “Citing Bitkov Family’s Mistreatment, Rubio Places Hold on U.S. Funds to International Commission on Impunity in Guatemala (Cicig)” (U.S. Senate, May 7, 2018).

I am concerned that CICIG, a commission mostly funded by the United States, has been manipulated and used by radical elements and Russia’s campaign against the Bitkov family in Guatemala

• Sonia Perez D., “Guatemala’s Crusading Prosecutor Exits Amid Praise, Threats” (Associated Press **, May 7, 2018).

It’s been a long time since it was safe for Thelma Aldana to go out in public alone, and perhaps it never will be again

• Felipe Puerta, Steven Dudley, “Us Senator Injects Uncertainty Into Guatemala Anti-Corruption Fight” (InsightCrime, May 7, 2018).

The irony is also thick considering Rubio’s stated concerns about how criminal and terrorist groups can take advantage of lax and corrupt migration systems in Central America

Guatemala, Mexico

• James Fredrick, “Mexico Deploys a Formidable Deportation Force Near Its Own Southern Border” (Parallels, National Public Radio, May 7, 2018).

Rather than amassing troops on its border with Guatemala, Mexico stations migration agents, local and federal police, soldiers and marines to create a kind of containment zone in Chiapas state

Mexico

• Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-New Hampshire), “Senator Hassan Visits U.S.-Mexico Border, Mexico City to Assess Drug Interdiction Efforts” (U.S. Senate, May 7, 2018).

It’s clear that we need more border patrol personnel, improved technology, and better infrastructure such as roads, fencing, and upgraded facilities

• Nikki Wentling, “Us Border Patrol Eyes Murals Painted by Deported Veterans on Mexico Border Wall” (Stars and Stripes, May 7, 2018).

To Gregory, Border Patrol’s scrutiny of his mural sends a deeper message about how the government views deported veterans

Nicaragua

• Frances Robles, “As Nicaragua Death Toll Grows, Support for Ortega Slips” (The New York Times, May 7, 2018).

In this Central American country of six million people, that tally makes this the deadliest unrest by far since nearly three decades of war ended in 1990

Venezuela

• Luis Vicente Leon, “Los Escenarios” (ProDaVinci (Venezuela), May 7, 2018).

Queda siempre el tercer escenario. Que la votación sea tan contundente que sea imposible para el gobierno ocultar el resultado sin un fraude tan masivo que genere una reacción contundente de la sociedad

• Luis Alonso Lugo, “Us Asks Organization of American States to Suspend Venezuela” (Associated Press, The Washington Post, May 7, 2018).

Pence also urged member states to cut off Venezuelan leaders from their financial systems and to enact visa restrictions

Western Hemisphere Regional

• Curt Prendergast, “This State’s National Guard Has Been Quietly Battling Cartels on the Us-Mexico Border for Decades” (Arizona Daily Star, Task & Purpose, May 7, 2018).

In recent years, the main role of the National Guard on the border has been aerial reconnaissance and operating surveillance cameras for CBP